Talent Middle School Music News

Dear Talent Middle School Music Families,

Our students have been up to many great things this semester, and we have several exciting events on the horizon that I’d like to share with you.

Three TMS students have been selected to perform with the Rogue Valley Symphonic Band in March! Students were chosen based on merit and class performance. Congratulations to:

• Korbin Potochnick – Trumpet
  
  

• Jack Boyles – Clarinet
  
  

• Karina de Jesus – Percussion

So far this semester, students have learned about the science of sound and collaborated with CTE to create three kinds of instruments: aerophones, idiophones, and chordophones. We are finishing this unit by learning about an orchestra in Paraguay where all of the instruments are made from recycled materials.

Coming up: Sixth-grade music studies students will begin learning guitar! We have 12 classroom guitars that students will share in pairs. If your student would like to bring a guitar from home, they are welcome to do so. Please discuss the responsibility of caring for their instrument when bringing it to and from school. I will do my best to provide safe storage during the school day.

Students are working on improving their music-reading skills. We are currently working on the Concert A-flat scale and are just over halfway through the Standards of Excellence (red book). We are preparing for our next concert by rehearsing Lone Star Overture and Star Wars.

Varsity Band is gearing up for the Southern Oregon Middle School Band Festival, to be held on Tuesday, March 17 in Grants Pass, OR. Students will perform three pieces for an adjudicator and then participate in a 30-minute clinic session with the judges.

📄 Permission slips will be coming home soon—please keep an eye out!.

We recently took a note-reading quiz to ensure students can read notes on the lines and spaces of their clef (treble and/or bass). Students have been playing exercises using quarter, half, and whole notes, and this coming week we’ll add eighth notes to the mix!

We are also working on playing higher notes and adjusting breath and abdominal pressure to create a pleasing (not screeching!) tone. Please remember—if practice at home doesn’t always sound perfect, that’s part of the learning process. Sometimes we have to be wrong to know what’s right!

Choir members will also be participating in a middle school festival on Monday, March 16 in Medford. Students have begun learning several pieces, including:

• Sansa Kroma (West African folk song)
  
  

• Under the Sea from The Little Mermaid
  
  

• Open Arms from the viral musical Epic
  
  

• Climbing Up the Mountain! (spiritual)
  
  

They will soon begin a contemporary choral piece, The Little Creek by Matt Carlson. Like Varsity Band, permission slips will be coming home shortly.

Varsity Band & TMS Choir Concert
📅 Friday, March 6
🕖 6:30 PM (Call Time: 6:10 PM)
📍 Phoenix High School Theater

Pear Blossom Parade
📅 Saturday, April 11
📌 Details to be announced
(Varsity Band)

All-District Band Concert
📅 Tuesday, May 19
🕖 6:00 PM
📍 Phoenix High School
(Junior Varsity Band, Varsity Band, and 6th-Grade Band)

Azalea Parade
📅 Memorial Day Weekend
📍 Brookings, OR
(Varsity Band)

Students should plan to wear “concert black.” We will discuss specific expectations in class.

Ms. Kelly Case
TMS Music Teacher
Percussion Instructor, Phoenix High School Marching Band
📧 kelly.case@phoenix.k12.or.us

Thank you for your continued support of our music students!